


Behind the Masks

by Tallihensia



Series: Not A Villain [4]
Category: DCU, Smallville
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Gen, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-08
Updated: 2011-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-17 18:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/179817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallihensia/pseuds/Tallihensia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce worries about what Clark and Conner are getting themselves into with this new relationship with Lex, and he does some investigating of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind the Masks

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Only mine in my dreams. ^^ This story was written for free entertainment purposes only and may not be reproduced for profit or altered without permission.
> 
>  **Warnings:** none
> 
>  **Spoilers:** none
> 
>  **Notes:** 4th in the Conner series. A smaller piece to bridge a gap and get some different perspective in here.

## Behind the Masks

Bruce tapped his fingers on the desk, debating with himself. He debated well, familiar with the process over the years, and he knew all the arguments he would present to himself. There were both advantages and disadvantages in the action he was contemplating. Overall, there were more disadvantages, which would normally preclude the action. However, Bruce was curious. Curiosity was not always a good reason to weigh in on the decision, and there were means to find out the information in another manner. Yet, in this case…

Making his decision, he picked up the phone. "Sally, please make an appointment for me with Lex Luthor. In person, Metropolis, for a two hour meeting. See if it can be between three days and a week from now. Companies potentially to be discussed are Gekchem, YuLight, and Wichabi."

"Yes, Mr. Wayne."

Hanging up the phone, Bruce reflected that even though he'd made the move, he still didn't know if it was the right one.

... ... ...

"Bruce," Lex rose from his chair and came around the desk to greet him, "it's good to see you. It's been too long."

They shook hands. Bruce looked into the cold blue eyes and didn't believe a word of it. "Indeed, Lex. When was the last time? That ball in Cincinnati?" He didn't mean a word of it either.

Lex bared his teeth in a smile. "I believe the U.N. reception in Washington was after that."

"So it was," Bruce replied, as their hands disengaged from the grip test. The last time had been a week ago as Batman assisted Green Arrow in an operation in Star City. Lex Luthor had been there, and they were sure Lex was behind the sabotage, but they couldn't prove anything.

He moved towards the recliner seats set up by the window that Lex indicated with a wave. Bruce had truly been more annoyed at Green Arrow than Lex Luthor for that incident. Corporate white collar crime against Oliver Queen's business interests was something Batman should not have been involved with. Too many crossing of the lines. Though this meeting with Lex was crossing it even more. Bruce flicked his eyes over the city exposed by the window and he frowned.

"If it's not to your liking…?" Lex made it somewhere between a question and a statement as he poured them both tea.

Bruce noticed without surprise that it was the red tea he liked imported from Nepal; knowledge like that was a standard research and acquisition item for a meeting with a power player. "No, it's fine. It's just disconcerting, to be the only building up so high. Gotham is built a little more… close."

"And dark, with your ever-present smog-layer." Lex handed the cup to Bruce and settled in the seat next to him.

"It's a cloud layer," Bruce said mildly. "We're in a natural low valley that traps the atmosphere."

"Of course," Lex flashed Bruce a grin and sipped his tea.

It really was a smog layer. Bruce would never say so, though, particularly to a Metropolian. However, Lex had definitely won the initial skirmish. Bruce put his cup to one side and steepled his fingers. "I find that I have a few too many database companies in my stable. I was wondering if you might have any extra electronics?"

Lex put his own tea away and they moved to business. After 90 minutes exactly, they stood up. No overt glances to time-calculating devices had been made by either of them during the meeting. They were both just very good at negotiations and knowing where they were going.

At the desk, they signed papers and sent said papers off to the secretaries and legal teams, and a couple of small companies changed hands. A chemical research facility and a chip-manufacturing plant were the main ones, nominally. Sacrifices for a different cause. The employees would notice no difference in their operations.

"We have some time left," Lex said as he glanced at a discreet digital clock in the corner of the office. "Would you like a tour?"

"We do?" Bruce affected surprise. "If that's the case, then perhaps we can talk about your scholarship program… I've heard good things about it."

The only indication of surprise that Lex showed was a barely noticeable pause in his actions and his face was stiller for a few moments longer than it should have been. When he recovered, Lex looked out the window. "It's such a nice day outside. Would you like to take that discussion to the park? I've heard there is some decent entertainment in progress right now."

It was Bruce's turn to be genuinely startled, and since he was being Bruce Wayne today instead of Batman, he let it show. He glanced to the window, yet didn't see anything that hadn't been there before. "Why not," he acquiesced to Lex's suggestion. They would now run over the scheduled time, however that was a problem for Lex's calendar, not his. Bruce hadn't scheduled anything else for the day.

They took the elevator to the main floor and strolled out the door while the security teams scrambled behind and ahead of them. Neither group was happy, and Bruce's lead man had a scowl on his face that could melt lead. They were in a strange city, working with another security team whom they didn't trust, and Bruce chose to go out for a stroll. Bruce suppressed a smirk. It was something his playboy persona would do, even if he hadn't originally thought of it. No harm to his reputation.

Beside him, Lex tilted his head in acknowledgement of something his lead security woman had shown him with subtle gestures that Bruce couldn't interpret. Then Lex spoke. "We'll be taking a car to the park." He paused at the curb for one to be brought around.

This time, Bruce let the smirk show. Lex might be the best negotiator there was, however, in this case, it seemed his security guards had more power.

Lex grinned back ruefully, a more real expression than he'd let be seen all day. "We're still going to the park, though."

"Compromise is the mother of negotiations." Bruce let the smirk slip to a smile. When you were rich, you knew the dance well.

"More like the bastard child thereof," Lex sighed, tapping his fingers lightly against his side.

After the car arrived and they got into the back seat, Lex filled the short drive with a synopsis of the scholarship program. It was the general PR information, and nothing new to Bruce, though he nodded in all the right places.

When they had circled the block for the third time, Lex stopped mid-word. "That's enough, Hope. Either Mercy has had enough time to set things up, or they haven't, but we're getting out now."

"There are a lot of people in the park, sir," the driver protested but without much real expectation of success.

"That's why it's a public park," Lex replied sarcastically. "Now."

Bruce chuckled as the car glided to a smooth stop. He was rather enjoying being Bruce Wayne around Lex Luthor. Batman was so stiff and humorless, a necessity among so many criminals. Bruce was usually much more fun-loving. Lex wasn't known for it himself… however since Bruce had mentioned the scholarship, Lex had discarded some of the corporate smoothness. Bruce wasn't entirely sure what had taken its place, but he was starting to understand Superman a bit more.

Lex guided them through the park paths to an open area at the edge of the wide lawn. Trees were sparse around them here, and picnic benches lined the path. There was a section where nobody sat, or stood, or came near. Every time a stroller came near, somebody in a suit and dark glasses would detour from where they stood and the stroller would find someplace else.

"So much for mingling with the public," Bruce murmured as they walked into the quiet area and sat on one of the benches.

"That's not what we're here for," Lex shrugged. Then he raised his chin, pointing subtly upwards.

Lifting his gaze, Bruce saw red. A film of outrage covered his eyes and stole his speech for an appropriate moment and he was thankful for his reflex to be still in unexpected events.

"One of Metropolis' unusual advantages," Lex said. "The opportunity to see superheroes practicing. That's our newest hero, Superboy. He is Superman's son, and we're glad to have him here with us. I'm not sure who his companion is, though."

His companion was supposed to be in Gotham. The superhero costume wasn't the Robin suit, just a practice suit that didn't mimic any other hero styles; Tim had been careful about that. Yet Bruce knew it was Tim, all the same. Diving around in the air, being caught and tossed around by Superboy as they practiced aerial maneuvers. Fine for Superboy who could fly. Less fine for Tim who wasn't even wearing a jet pack, as far as Bruce could see. He was using the cords and slings, hooking and releasing on nearby buildings, and also on Superboy himself, who was helping Tim to perform wilder acrobatics than one saw in a circus. Who knew what they thought they were practicing for.

"They've been out here for a few hours now, my security tells me. They were practicing with airballs earlier. The unknown companion has quite an eye for it."

Bruce silently cursed under his breath. He had told Tim the day before that he was going to Metropolis, mostly so that if anything came up, Tim would know how to contact him. He hadn't expected Tim to follow him. Or precede him. And **this** …

"It's a treat when we get to see Superman and Superboy practicing together. It's rarer to see the other heroes, but sometimes they come by, especially now that Superboy is here. He was out last month with Wonder Woman."

Why was this Bruce's life? He cleared his throat and tried to catch up with Lex's conversation. "We don't see our own practicing. Fighting, yes – they show up when we need them. However... one presumes they practice in private. I, personally, would be concerned about enemies during a public practice." Bruce was blurring the lines, he knew, however, he was **mad** , and yes, scared as well for Tim.

"In Gotham, I imagine so," Lex replied after a pause. "In Metropolis… our enemies are not usually so subtle. And the two up there are not as exposed as it might look like they are." He nodded off in another direction, and then handed Bruce a small telescope.

Bruce looked through the scope and saw a familiar red and blue figure standing on top of the giant globe that marked the Daily Planet building. He was going to kill Clark later. It did, however, make him feel better to know Superman was watching, if not supervising.

"People tend to forget that in addition to leaping tall buildings and bouncing bullets off their chests, our resident heroes have other abilities. If somebody was, for instance, evaluating the maneuvers those two are making, and discussing ways in which to get around them… somebody else would hear and know."

"Unless they didn't discuss it out loud." Despite his words, Bruce relaxed another notch. Like the Martian Manhunter and his telepathy, Superman was usually too polite to remark on anything he'd overheard that a normal human could not. Nor did he advertise it, except when he was rushing off to rescue somebody nobody else had heard scream. It was, however, a power that used when needed. "So they can listen to whole conversations while doing other things?"

Lex smiled. "As do we all, sometimes."

"With varying amounts of success, depending on what else is going on."

"True," Lex acknowledged. He tilted his head against the bench and gazed up, watching without speaking for a few minutes.

Bruce also watched. He had to admit that Tim and Kon were good together. They made mistakes but quickly corrected them, working together on a level that was instinctive and couldn't always be duplicated by practice, though the practice certainly didn't hurt. With a pang in his heart, Bruce realized he was going to lose Tim soon. Not to the underbelly of the Gotham night, but to a new city and a new partner. When Superboy moved away from Metropolis and split off on his own... Tim would go with him. Batman was sure of this. They had only known each other for a few months, yet the bond between the two young men was strong.

That would be a few years down the road, however. Kon wasn't ready to leave his newly found father. Which was the main reason Bruce was here today, to evaluate the other person in Kon's life, who was being brought closer and closer into Clark's life by extension. There was a vast difference between ex-friend, villain, and... this, whatever they were starting now. Co-parents, romance, friendship again, at the least. Clark couldn't hide his all wants from Bruce, and Bruce had his concerns for both Clark and Kon. Lex Luthor was dangerous.

"There's another thing you don't see very often," Lex suddenly said.

"Humm?" Bruce made a non-committal inquisitive noise, returning his focus to the sky.

"A superhero caught out. Superboy's fly is down."

Bruce blinked and tried to see, but even as he looked, Superboy turned upside down and curled around himself, hands reaching for his zipper as he flipped in uncoordinated summersaults through the air. Tim was safely on a platform off to one side, watching in surprise as his friend was distracted.

Lex snickered. "And sometimes people take advantage of superheroes overhearing when those superheroes get over-confident."

It had been a joke. Bruce struggled for a moment to hold it back and then he remembered he was Bruce, not Batman and he laughed out loud. The way Kon had twisted up and around... the little snicker from Lex.... Bruce laughed some more.

When he calmed down, he straightened up. "That's one lesson that young superhero won't be forgetting soon."

Lex's eyes flashed in self-satisfaction as he grinned at Bruce.

It made Lex Luthor, corporate billionaire, look almost human, and Bruce had yet another glimpse of what Clark saw in him. Deliberately so, he knew. Lex was allowing him to see this side because he knew Bruce was not here for any corporate dealings, but was here instead for a friend.

"You don't want to set up another Physics scholarship," Lex segued into the topic that had brought them out to the park.

Bruce glanced back up to the sky where some very improbable things were being done at this moment to the laws of physics. "What would you suggest?" He didn't mind taking the back seat on this one, curious as to what Lex was thinking and how much Lex thought he knew.

"A complimentary line of research, that will pull from a different pool of applicants. Something like computer science or engineering. Our two programs can run separately and periodically meet for a topic that overlaps both fields, such as the design and build of new accelerator lines."

Computer science or engineering. Bruce snorted as he watched Tim disengage one rappel hook and simultaneously throw out another. Yes, Lex had divined perfectly well why Bruce had asked about the scholarship program. Over the last few years, he'd been very careful to keep Tim away from most things that were related to Bruce Wayne instead of Batman, however, since Conner had gotten his "scholarship" that allowed him to meet legitimately with Lex, Tim had been begging for a similar one from Bruce.

Tim had a father who was still alive and Bruce didn't want to interfere with that relationship. Bruce had also lost both of his previous wards, his adopted sons. He'd lost one to over-protectiveness and the other to death which made the pain of the first even harder for the proof of the dangers. Then had come Tim with his aliveness and his joy and his eagerness to share everything. Bruce wasn't sure if he could be a father-figure to anybody ever again. Still, though, Tim wanted something beyond the Batman and Robin business, and Bruce had a very hard time saying 'no' to him.

"I'll take it under advisement," Bruce said dryly, replying to Lex. "It is a good plan," he admitted, deciding it wouldn't hurt to say so. Even if said plan would, in addition to allowing the boys to interact more, also force him and Lex to meet more. Bruce wasn't sure if he wanted that. There were too many lines crossed already, and the more one added, the less secure were the identities. The boys, though, didn't see that as something to be feared so much as to be embraced. Second-generation heroes, and a little more blasé about the super-heroing.

There was a commotion at the edge of their cleared area and Bruce looked over to see reporters and photographers lined up and trying to press through the security to get closer.

Lex hadn't looked over, but all the same he let out a tired sigh that expressed similar feelings to Bruce's. "And people **want** to be rich," Lex murmured, for Bruce's hearing only.

"It has its perks," Bruce replied.

"It does," Lex agreed, the corner of his mouth upturned. "Shall we face them?"

"We can throw a few bones." Bruce stood and gave a last glance up at the young superheroes before he turned to face his other role.

... ... ...

Later that day, Lex dropped Bruce off at the airport. They went to the exclusive members' room where rich people waited for their planes, and they had one last drink together before saying their polite farewells. They were the only two there, and their money ensured there was no surveillance.

Lex was turning to step out of the room, leaving after they'd said all they had to say to each other. He was relaxed, with no more expectations of surprises or attacks of a corporate nature. Their talk had all been light, working on scholarship details or other things removed from the business world, no more attacks or veiled barbs from either of them. As he was leaving, Lex was unguarded in his expectations as he hadn't been earlier in the day. Bruce had been waiting all day for a moment like this and he took this single chance, asking the question he'd come to Metropolis to find out.

"Do you love them?"

Lex halted where he was, surprise ripping through his body. It took him several long moments to regain his composure, during which time pain and anguish were writ clearly on his face. He swallowed and then tried to glare at Bruce, but the attempt was but a shadow of his normal self. Lex turned his face away, then continued through the door and away from Bruce.

As the door was almost shut, Bruce heard, very faintly, "I do."

He didn't really need the words, though, the expression had been enough. If Lex had been fooling them all, that was one thing, but Lex was as entangled as Clark and Conner were and that was quite another thing entirely.

Bruce sat down to wait for his plane and wondered what Clark was going to do.  


* * *

  


END

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by Ronda and Sue. Cross-posted to [my livejournal](http://community.livejournal.com/alatrific/27970.html).


End file.
